State-run Biman Bangladesh Airlines will take lease of two new generation aircraft dropping two existing DC-10s as the latter ones are consuming excess fuel, said Biman officials.
They expect the two new aircraft to be added to the Biman fleet by December this year.
To this end, the Biman authorities on September 15 floated a tender for a dry lease of two aircraft with a capacity of minimum 250 seats or above without pilots and cabin crews for a period of 60 months.
The aircraft should not be more than 15-year-old, but it can be of any model. However, they must be able to operate direct flights from Dhaka to London. The last date to submit proposals is October 8.
Earlier on September 11, Biman had floated a tender for taking a dry lease of two Boeing-777-200ERs on the same conditions.
Asked about the tender, Biman managing director Kevin Steele told New Age that the first priority of Biman was the safety and security of the passengers. Besides, Biman had to spend around 30 to 40 per cent of its expenses on fuel consumption.
‘So, we have decided to add energy-efficient aircraft abandoning the old ones,’ he added.
Biman officials said Biman had been dependent on DC-10 aircraft for carrying passengers on international routes for many years.
At present, Biman has only four DC-10 aircraft that are 34 years and eight months, 34 years and four months, 33 years and eight months and 24 years and nine months’ old.
Among them, two have already been grounded while the Middle-East flights are operated by one and the other is kept standby to avoid any disruption.
On April 17, a technical glitch was found shortly after a DC-10 aircraft took off with 223 passengers on Dhaka-Chittagong-Dubai route.
After 15 minutes, the aircraft had to land at Dhaka airport.
-With New Age input
